Birthday Week...Er...Um Month

I love Fall!

Have I said that before? I know I have. I have said it time and time again. Truly the reason we live in Nebraska becomes apparent in the fall. I can't help but love the colors, the smells, the brisk temperatures, [sometimes it's warm too] pumpkin spiced everything, real pumpkin patches, Husker football and MY BIRTHDAY. I love it all I will endure the freezing [ridiculous] winter tundra of December to February just to fall in love all over again from September through November. 

I know my birthday is actually only one day but it deserves so much more celebration than 24 hours. I remember being pregnant the last few weeks and all I could think about was bringing my baby into the world...every day I thought about it. So you see birthdays really ought to be observed a few weeks early. That may be me justifying and I am okay with that! 

Celebrating with these girls

My dear friend Susan's birthday is early in October. This year we started our birthday lunches and coffee dates on the 3rd. Kimberly and Susan are long time friends. When our babies were little we use to put them to bed and then scrapbook together until the wee hours of the night. Now our three families have eight busy children, it's not often that we get several hours together. Dinner at Spin Pizza in Papio was a great kick off to the birthday month! [Blood Orange Sangria was amazing!]

I love the sign my girls made

My morning walk with Anna

BOGO lunch at Qdoba...YUM!

Free coffee from Caribou Coffee
and
Free Cupcake from Mockingbird Cupcakes

Dinner at Genji

Olivia trying to catch shrimp in her mouth

Emma dancing and singing to her mama

The girls have learned what makes their mom feel appreciated. Each of them wrote a poem or song, as you can see Emma even danced. The day before my birthday they made dinner and then that night they folded laundry. If that doesn't make a mama feel loved I don't know what would. To top it off I woke on my special day to balloons on the floor [something I do for them] and a gift card from Starbucks. Life is good!

Since Chris' dad had knee surgery in mid October we didn't really celebrate with them but my parents and brother stopped by for a few days. I made hummingbird cake, did lots of cooking and managed to stay up late talking each night. These are the times we are reminded how blessed we are to have the space in our new home to host visitors.

I will have my last celebration this Wednesday night with my friend Nicole.

Next month we will be highlighting my handsome husband...can't wait!

Good-Bye Vincent

Our Furry Family

Over the 18 years we have been married, our family has loved Moxie, Babe, Vincent and Bella. Unlike our children, we can admit that we love some pets more than others. (Vincent was the best) I grew up with pets and I still miss Bluebell, the best dog EVER but as an active family we know that we don't have the time to properly take care of a dog. Hence, we are a cat family.

This week with sad hearts our family said good-bye to our beloved Vincent. He has been part of our family since Liv was a baby. Vincent came to us as a stray and we loved him well.

Our Last Family Photo

Oh the house will be quiet tomorrow morning when everyone else goes back to school and Vinny isn't here to follow me around meowing relentlessly until I agree to sit down and cuddle. I will miss my sweet, extra fluffy, foul breathed cat. Thank you Vinny for the many years of love. Rest In Peace.

Vinyl Creations by MelKate

I have found a hobby that bring me such joy...

Creating wall designs for friends and family. In the last couple of years I have created around 50+ vinyl sayings and designs for friends. The moment I pull off the transfer tape and take a step back I get this sense of accomplishment and joy. Because my friends have big mouths, I guess, I have even had the privilege to design for a few businesses. One of them, didn't finish paying me for the 40+ signs I made but that's my problem. I'm just going to throw this out there, if you would like for me to design and cut a saying or emblem for you leave me a message. The cost is minimal compared to other popular sites and you can be sure that your design is created with love and care not mass produced.

Below I have attached a few pictures. 

They aren't crooked, it's just poor photography. :)

I love to pray scripture with my children's names in it. So when a dear friend asked for this verse for her daughter's room I inserted Molly's name right into it. They loved it.

 These (and 8 others) can be found in the new Habitat for Humanity Building in Omaha

"America the Beautiful" 

Fun holiday decor

This one is in my house, love it.

 This LeBron James quote took me more that 3 hours to apply. YIKES

This one is huge, the picture doesn't do it justice.

"Music should strike fire from the heart of man and bring tears from the eyes of women"

I painted the staff and cut the notes out of black vinyl

Don't remember the translation of this french saying

It's Friday and part of my family will be out of town which means I will have more time to create. I hope to finish a design for Ballet Nebraska, a softball quote for Kristi's room and figure out what the Millard youth football program wants for car decals. If I get all that done then I can get back to staining my deck.

Peace and Joy to each person reading this blog. God loves you more than any other creation, after all you were created in His own image. Know that you are loved!